Decisions
by lackingcutiepie6
Summary: Decisions..now that you think about it there are a lot of them right? Well then what would you choose..live with the truth or try to forget it? Say you were in HER shoes.. how would you figure out the answer when you know what the truth is..? Rated T just in case of foul language. Includes Zoeya, Rythian, Duncan/LividCoffee, OCs and more -hopefully-
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter** **One**_

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**_So I didn't get to do what I was planning on doing before, but this popped into my head so I thought I'd give it a go. Heh, rhyming._**

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_"As the snow fell upon the land, everyone laughed and played. As the water froze upon the lake, everyone skated all day. But while the snow fell upon the land, everyone saw it would never end."_

**Never-ending Snow, Day 5 3:25 pm**

Snow has fallen for five days straight, not stopping or slowing down as it continued to weigh against the trees and roofs. It covered the pathways and made it harder to see or walk. Ruby, an 18-year-old with purple hair and purple eyes, rested her head against a window while watching the snow fall. She just watched it while the long white sleeves of her shirt protected her cheeks from the cold glass.

Before the snow started to fall, Ruby remembers meeting some people who wanted to explore the area. She was going to go look for them, thinking they were probably freezing out there, but her roommate Jarl, a 19-year-old with black hair and red streaks with red eyes to match, keeps telling her 'No'. But today, she's going to sneak out and go look for them no matter what her roommate says.

Staying in a warm house while people could be out there freezing like a popsicle is a no-no in Ruby's book. All she had to do was wait for Jarl to fall asleep, then she would put on her winter clothing and leave, easy. "Ruby! Can you help me in the underground farm?" Jarl asked, yelling from the other side of the building. Ruby rolled her eyes and looked away from the window, standing up and adjusting her white skirt before running off to help her roommate.

**Day 5, 10:50 pm**

"Night Jarl," Ruby said, watching her roommate walk to his bedroom before he closed the door. A smirk slowly appeared on Ruby's face as she walked to her room, heading straight for the double chest next to her bed. But just before she could open it, she started hearing metal clanking and screws squeaking.

Great.

Jarl was messing with his science equipment again. Last year's Christmas was special to them, for they had gotten unexpected gifts from an anonymous person. Jarl's Christmas chest had a lot of things from wrenches and machinery to lasers and Quantum suits. But Ruby, on the other hand, received a wand AND a wrench - with a simple note sitting in between.

_You seem to be having trouble deciding. _That's all it said.

So with a confused face she picked up both the wrench and the wand, storing them away. Even to this day she still hasn't touched either one of the tools. "Great..." Ruby whispered, slightly disappointed that Jarl is going to be up for basically the entire night. As she continued to look through her neatly sorted chest, she finally found her purple winter outfit she had made from left over leather.

It was all dyed a pretty purple/magenta color, with a bit of cotton sewn onto the ends of the sleeves. While looking around in her chest, she grabbed a torch and some flint n' steel. With a smile, Ruby slowly and quietly closed her chest and opened her bedroom door - knowing that Jarl is making enough racket to keep him from hearing her leave.

She set the torch down against the front door and pocketed the flint n' steel, putting on her winter clothing before grabbing the torch again and leaving her warm home to the freezing temperatures of the outdoor snowstorm. "Jesus...colder than I expected.." Ruby muttered, keeping the torch in front of her with a shaking hand.

The snow was falling in big clusters semi-lightly, but the wind was blowing them back and forth, making it barely possible for Ruby to see two blocks in front of her with just the torch. While Ruby continued to walk around, not a clue where she was going, she noticed that her torch was having trouble staying lit against the wind.

"Don't you dare.." But sadly, the torch went out, leaving Ruby to the dark and the cold. She cursed under her breath and quickly looked for a spot that the wind couldn't reach so she could re-light her torch. There was a spot below a spruce tree that seemed to have no trace of snow around it, not even the wind could touch it. With a surprised look on her face, Ruby crawled below the tree and curled up in the spot - trying to re-light the torch with a shaking hand holding her flint n' steel.

Every time a spark would fly off the flint n' steel and onto the torch, nothing would happen. "Come on...come on.. please.." Ruby whispered, scared she was going to freeze out here. As her hands continued to shake more and more, she wouldn't stop trying to light her torch.

But Ruby's hope was dwindling, was she going to be unable to light her torch and freeze out here? She could hardly hold the items in her hand any longer, making it almost impossible to light it. "Come on already..." With just a little bit of hope, she tried to light her torch again. She gasped and quickly placed the torch on the floor, fire erupting from the top of it with a warm glow.

As she kept her hands and feet close enough to the torch for warmth, a wave of exhaustion wrapped around her - making her grow tired. Ruby tried so hard to keep from falling asleep, but the comforting warmth the torch was giving wasn't exactly helping her.

So, within a few moments of being under the tree with a warm torch beside her, Ruby curled up on the ground and closed her eyes. Ignoring the raging sounds of the wind and the creaking of tree branches, she quickly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

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_Fire danced around logs inside the fireplace, producing most of the heat in this cabin Ruby finds herself in. She doesn't know how she got there, but for some reason it doesn't worry her. She stared into the fire, watching every detail as if it would mean something one day. "You feeling better? Being out in the cold isn't very health you know." The deep voice wasn't familiar and sudden, making Ruby jump as a cup of hot tea is set to her right. Ruby tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't move and words wouldn't escape her throat. "Don't worry if you can't speak, most people cant unless they truly want to when they pop up here." Ruby blinked, looking to her left only to stare at a man who has probably been talking to her the entire time._

_ The man looked a bit older than Ruby, messy brown hair and bright green eyes instantly retrieving Ruby's attention as she continued to take in the details. Red and white colors enveloped his checked t-shirt, looking brand new while his blue jeans looked dull and worn often. With the cup of tea suddenly in her hand, Ruby just stared at the man as he placed to items in front of him._

_ A wand and a wrench._

_ "Tell me, what do you think of as soon as you see these two items?" She looked down at the items, and as she thought of sentenced she really wanted to say to the man, her mouth started to move. "Choices," she whispered, looking at the man again.__The man laughed, finding it funny that she said 'choices' instead of something else. _

_This infuriated Ruby, so she continued while he laughed. "I see two items. Both items fight each other. Why? I don't know," she gestured her hand over the wand without touching it, " The wand symbolizes magic, a form of energy mostly used by 'wizards' or 'sorcerers'. They are probably called different names but really, I probably don't have enough time to list them all. This form of energy makes oneself stronger in the way of casting spells and using things created by this energy." Then, she gestured her other hand to the wrench, " The wrench symbolizes technology, a category most Minecraftians are progressing in greatly. Mostly made of metals, plastics, woods, etc. it creates weapons, machinery, armor, and more refined ways of building. In the end, the two are just choices of which side one will choose, because you just can't put these two together without one canceling the other out completely."_

_With that said, Ruby took a deep breath -having forgotten to breathe- and sighed, moving her hands away from the items and looking towards the man. The man's eyes were wide in shock at her knowledge, making her giggle. "What? You can know anything and everything when your dreaming."_

**Day 6, 9:00 AM**

Ruby jumped as she woke, hitting her head on one of the many branches of the tree she was under. She yelped, snow falling on top of her. "God damnit.." she muttered, shaking the snow off and reaching for her torch. When she grabbed at nothing but air, Ruby looked to where she left her torch - confused.

Her torch wasn't where she left it. "What the heck?! Someone nicked my torch!" Ruby exclaimed, looking around frantically as she crawled out from under the tree. Rubbing her hands, she realized that she was still warm from her torso to her feet. "Huh..." Continuing on her search for those people, Ruby just walked aimlessly, almost losing track of where her home is.

"Forget it...Jarl is probably worrying about me sneaking off and who knows! Someone might have already found those three persons.." She muttered, walking the way she came - hoping to reach her home. As the snow crunched with every step Ruby took, more footsteps were messing with the snow blocks ahead of her with her knowledge.

While Ruby continued to walk, the extra footsteps were getting just a bit louder as she walked - until a bright green mob walked out of nowhere with four legs, no arms, a body and a head. This startled Ruby, making her freeze instantly. _Oh god...creeper.._ Just before that damned thing could turn it's head around and notice her, a hand grabbed her from behind and pulled her to the backside of a spruce tree - quickly covering her mouth so she wouldn't make noise.

Ruby struggled to get the person to let go, almost tempted to bite the hand around her mouth. The person wasn't even paying attention to her, just poking his head to get a look at the creeper, who was -sadly- still there. "Go away already..." he whispered, his nose and mouth being hidden by a purple bandana. When the creeper finally left, finding nothing interesting, the man sighed and let go of Ruby's mouth. Ruby blinked a few times, sort of examining the an that probably saved her.

His hair was brown, with a little bit of blonde at the front - all sort of brushed back. His eyes were a dark blue, almost indigo. Wrapped around his neck was a piece of a black cape that fell down to his knees. With a white cloak that hid basically the rest of his clothing, the last thing Ruby could see were the bandages wrapped around his arms._ Hmm.. _"..okay?" the man said. Ruby blinked, leaving her thoughts and staring back towards him. "Hm?"

The man sighed, shaking his head. "Are you okay?" he asked again. Ruby nodded, extended her hand. "I'm Ruby." The man shook Ruby's hand and smiled behind the bandana, "Rythian." Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but someone screaming Rythian's name cut her off. Rythian rolled his eyes and turned towards the direction the voice came from - cupping his hands around the bandana and exclaiming "Over here!"

_More people..? Wait a second.. he looks fairly like the man I was looking for.. _Ruby had a quick flashback as pictures of what one of the persons in the group looked like. _Yup, looks exactly like him._

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**_Sorry for not doing anything for basically...ever. Anyway- Happy Late Christmas and a Merry New Year! W- That's not how it goes? Really? Well then...*looks back and forth* Kindof screwed that up now huh.. Well, see you guys next time!_**

**_P.S - I'd love suggestions for what I should do next! _**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

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**Day 6, 10:35 AM**

A woman came running out of nowhere, a green dinosaur at her tail. Ruby's attention was instantly at the metal mess her left arm was - completely ignoring the fact that the woman's target was Rythian. "! Zoey! Waitwaitwaitwaitwait WAIT!" Rythian exclaimed before the woman basically pounced him. Losing his balance from the sudden hug-attack, Rythian moves backwards a few steps before falling onto the snow covered ground - the woman on top of him.

Ruby stood there and blinked, confused before all of a sudden her eyes dilated somewhat - her vision becoming different shades of green. She couldn't move or speak, just watch as words appeared randomly. They all looked like they were describing Zoey..how odd. Red hair. Blue eyes. Lines tattooed on her shoulder. A black t-shirt that stops near her stomach with green criss-crossed lines that connect it to her pants.

But once it tried to describe the arm, it's like everything went into spaz mode and crashed - her eyes going back to normal and her vision becoming clear again. With a blink, Ruby looked around wondering what just happened. The dinosaur - probably apart of Rythian's group as well- snuck up on Ruby, like it noticed something just happened. The dinosaur tapped her on the shoulder, retrieving her attention as she turned around.

When she noticed the dinosaur was right behind her, Ruby jumped back in a sudden fright. The dinosaur blinked, looking at Ruby with curiosity as she stares back. With Zoey finally off of him, Rythian stood behind Ruby with a grin behind his bandana. "This is Teep, a sharp shooting human sized dinosaur." The dinosaur waved as Rythian continued, "And this hyperactive monstrosity next to me is Zoey." Zoey hugged Ruby from behind before realizing what Rythian just said, turning around with a frown on her face.

"AM NOT!" She screamed, her arms folded against her chest. Rythian laughed, Ruby joining him seconds after. "Haha..hilarious," Ruby spoke, "Well.. I seriously need to get back to my cabin..my roommate is probably freaking out because I'm not there-" Zoey's eyes widen with joy and she instantly looked over to Rythian, "Rythian! She has a cabin :o!" Rythian facepalmed, shaking his head.

"Uh...do you want to come with..?" Ruby asked, confused. Zoey looked back at Ruby and hugged her tightly - almost suffocating her. "Really!? Oh thank you thank you!" Wow...Rythian was right, she is a hyperactive monstrosity.. Ruby rubbed the back of her head with an awkward smile on her face, "Hehe.." Rythian sighed, pulling Zoey off of her so she could lead the way.

"Lead the way, Ruby," Rythian said, keeping Zoey under control. Ruby nodded and pointed towards the south, walking in that direction. First Teep followed, then Rythian, then Zoey. Zoey wouldn't stop talking about everything she noticed and Rythian apparently had some weird zoning out technique - for he seems unaffected by it. Today is going to be a loooooooooong day...

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**Sorry for nothing lately! I've just been reeaallyyy busy since I'm moving in 5 months. **

**Woooo...~ -cough-notfun-cough-**

**Well, I hope you travelers of the fictional universe enjoy this new chapter of this new star in the space sky.**

**See ya! ~Lack**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**_

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**11:55 AM**

The front door creaked as Ruby opened it slowly, trying not to raise any attention from her assumingly sleeping roommate. She peeked her head inside and looked around the living room, seeing no one with only the sound of the crackling fire echoing around it. Ruby smiled, looking back at her companions before tip toeing inside – the others following her footsteps. With a deep sigh, Ruby spoke in a whisper, "Great, he's not awake…Well, make yourselves at"

Suddenly, a door in the back of the house, being unseen to the group, slammed shut as footsteps echoed on the tiles. Ruby sighed, knowing that she was doomed to trouble as the footsteps got louder and louder. The one making those footsteps was non-other than Jarl, appearing in front of them with black pajamas and bed-head hair. The man yawned, giving a light stretch before staring at the group in front of him.

Ruby heard his roommate sigh, and tried her best not to think about the punishment she may deserve for not doing as he said. But, to her surprise, he merely thumped her on the head and said in a sleepy tone, "I don't even care right now…Just let me wake up before you start babbling about trying to explain to me where these people came from.." And with that, the exhausted roommate walked off towards his bedroom – probably to change his clothes.

Ruby blinked, more confused than ever at Jarl's reaction to the group. Maybe it was a good idea to have sneaked off on the night he was messing with his things, she thought. "Who was that…?" Rythian asked, looking at the closed door that kept everyone from his room. Ruby looked over at Rythian and scratched the back of her head, "That was um… my roommate ^^||" Rythian just nodded, as if he understood the feeling.

Sadly, because Rythian wasn't paying attention to Zoey, Zoey ran off to the fireplace where the fire stayed hot through this eternal winter – simply amazed at its detail. Teep, on the other hand, was leaning against the wall with the only window in the living room – tweaking his bow. "Well…um…just make yourself at home! I'll go chat with Jarl – my roommate," Ruby told Rythian, moving some bangs that seemed to be a duller version of the rest of her hair.

Rythian nodded, heading over to Zoey's direction while Ruby went off to chat with Jarl in his bedroom of mechanical shizwa.

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**Rythian POV [Yay! The first dang POV on this story!]**

Heading towards Zoey, Rythian just couldn't help but stare as Ruby walked over to the closed door – knocking on it before her roommate allowed her to come inside. Why was he so interested in her? Was it because of the sudden spike of magic that he felt after he saved her? It had felt almost exactly like his… only just a little bit weaker until it had just vanished out of thin air. Bah, he's just fooling himself. No one can have the exact same source of magic! It was impossible!

A hand was waving in front of Rythian's eyes, making him blink and leave his thoughts. "Rythian? Rythiaannn? Hellooo?" Zoey said, wondering what has gotten into her friend. Rythian looked at Zoey with a confused look, a blush being concealed by his bandana. When did Zoey get that close to him? "Um…Zoey..? What are you doing?" Zoey moved the hand away, looking at him for a few seconds before speaking. "Uh..waving my hand in your face.." she answered, getting a little quieter towards the end from some sort of embarrassment.

Rythian chuckled, waving a hand over Zoey's face while making spooky noises. She laughed, a smile forming on her lips. As they continued to play around, Rythian wondered how long it was since they could actually have fun without death attacking them at every corner.

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**Ruby POV [Or just the normal view that I've had it for the entire story till now. Heh.]**

Ruby knocked on the door, listening to Jarl's muffled "Come in" – signaling to her that she was allowed inside. Opening the door, she peeked inside and looked at her surroundings. A picture was placed on one wall, just above the bed, with what seems to be a sunset. He had a full set of Quantum armor in one corner, and a trap door leading to somewhere in the other. Jarl was just putting on his favorite shirt, a grey T-shirt with a green creeper face on it. "What is it?" Jarl asked, as if he never saw the three others that are messing around in the living room as they spoke.

"About me running off last night…"Ruby started, rubbing her shoulder, "I didn't think I was going to be gone for as long as I was…sorry if I caused any sort of frustration…" With that, she kept her head down. Being the sort-of honest child that she was, she couldn't really stand looking at someone while she admitted to doing something.

Jarl sighed, running a hand through his hair before embracing Ruby in a hug. This shocked Ruby, for she thought she was going to be yelled at instead. But Jarl was gentle, caressing her hair with the lightest touch – and with a caring tone, he whispered in her ear. "Even though I was slightly annoyed at your actions, I'm just glad you're okay…But if this ever happens again, at least tell me what you're gonna do first."

Ruby smiled, hugging Jarl back. It was nice having Jarl as a roommate…even he did get a little bit overprotective, she thought. Jarl was definitely like an older brother, protective yet annoying. "Awww! How adorable!" Zoey exclaimed from the other side of the open door. Ruby jumped and turned around as Jarl let go of her, a light blush forming at her cheeks.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five**_

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**1:30 PM**

Jarl nodded, his hand rubbing his chin as if he looked smart while he was thinking. "So….you three were on some sort of adventure and found this scattered about town just before the snow hit a few hours later… and within the days of being stuck in it," he looked over at Rythian for a second before continuing, "you noticed Ruby was going to be in deep trouble if you didn't do something." Rythian nodded, liking how little time it takes for this man to process something.

"And all the other nonsense happened… well! That's quite a story," Jarl said, having enjoyed their tale. "But what about all the snow…" Zoey started, but quieted down a bit – thinking that this wasn't the time to talk about the weather. But all eyes were on her, so she couldn't just stop. "Uh…I mean it does snow in the Taiga all the time but.. this isn't the Taiga so why is it snowing so much..?"

Rythian was the first to speak about it, "Good question…" He looked over at Jarl and Ruby, knowing that they knew a bit more about the town then they did, "Is there anything special about the town? Like aura nodes or anything of a special value?"

Jarl scratched his head, thinking if he had ever heard of the word 'aura node' before. But apparently Ruby knew all about it. Ruby jumped up in excitement but instantly sat back down, ready to tell the tale.

"So as rumors said, there used to be this beautiful tree in the center of town. The bark as white as snow and the leaves as blue as the open ocean. Apparently, the founder of this town wanted to keep the tree there, for he thought it would be our symbol – that we were here and would always be here. As time went on and the town flourished, some mean teenagers messed with the tree. Throwing eggs and papers all over its beauty. This made the town founder, then very old, angry because of how it messed with the tree's beautiful nature. So the founder had guards set up around the area to keep the tree protected.

"Some mages before you were said to have come to the land, examining the tree not for its beautiful outside, but for what lay inside. Of course having asked the founder to examine it, the mages soon found that there was a powerful magic radiating from this tree – full of love and protection. The mages said that because of the care brought to such a magnificent tree, the tree responded back – said to protect the area from any harsh environment that comes its way. They've identified the magic as to be concealed inside a 'node' embedded within the tree – said to have been there since the growth.

"But then…" Ruby's voice got a bit sad in tune, as if she herself was heart-broken by the next event, "Just weeks before all this madness, someone had cut the tree down… No one knows how he/she did, but the next day it was gone.."

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**I know I know, sudden change in detail right? Well, this is usually what happens when I finished a story and stuff.. SO DONT FREAK OUT THINKING IM NOT TYPING THESE! PLEASE! XD**

**I promise you I type all of my stories and just get a bit of a boost in my skills after reading a book that I enjoy. Heh ^^"**

**~Lack**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six**_

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"This has Duncan written all over it…" Rythian muttered quietly. Jarl blinked, his eyes wide as if he knew the person. "D-Duncan? The best scientist in all of Tekkitopia!?" he exclaimed. Rythian's eyebrow twitched, showing his dislike of this Duncan character. Zoey sighed, patting Rythian on the back gently. Ruby noticed this sudden change in the atmosphere and daringly asked, "Um… Who's Duncan and why… do you dislike him so much…?"

Ruby could hear a growl escape Rythian as Zoey spoke before he could, "He's just… a scientist who… crossed the line a bit too far…." Afterwards she gave a half-hearted smile, but Rythian still spoke – filled with anger from Duncan. "He's an asshole who nuked us and almost killed Zoey!" He exclaimed, slamming one of his fists on the armrest of the couch.

His eyes glowed with a purple tint in rage, before fading away as he tried to calm himself. Ruby opened her mouth to say something, but Jarl appeared out of nowhere and sat down next to her – making her jump. "Spooked you?" Jarl asked teasingly, giggling as he held up 4 bottles of hot chocolate. "Any of you guys thirsty?"

Zoey's eyes went wide, nodding as she snatched one of the bottles. "Hot chocolate! :o!" she exclaimed, holding it close to her chest like she honored it. Rythian quietly muttered a thank you, taking one of the bottles gently. Jarl smiled and placed one of the last two on Ruby's lap before opening his. Ruby smiled at everyone and opened her bottle, before suddenly sneezing.

Everyone looked at Ruby, Zoey being the first to crack up laughing. Then everyone else, including Ruby, laughed aswell.

**8:50 PM**

**Rythian POV**

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Make-shift beds were made in the living room for the trio to sleep in; luckily they were near the fireplace. Teep was snoring, his bow snuggling next to him. Zoey was tossing and turning – muttering in her sleep. Rythian, though, was just lying there – eyes closed though he couldn't sleep. With a quiet sigh, he opened his eyes in defeat – unable to get himself to sleep. Something just wasn't right… out of place right in the open but he just couldn't see it. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, thinking about just how odd this entire scenario is.

Or is his not mind wandering about the scenario…maybe it's about… Nah it couldn't be! It's just impossible for someone to share the same magic as the other…or could it? Rythian shook his head, the entire possibility of that being true is slim to nothing…. "Just…try to sleep…" Rythian whispered to himself, his eyes growing weary of staying up any longer.

"I can think about it….tomorrow…" As the exhausted mage lay back down on his make-shift bed, he closed his eyes and soon after fell into a deep sleep.

**Ruby POV**

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"_How was your day?" the man asked, his outfit not changed since yesterday – besides a new pair of black goggles hanging around his neck. "Nothing special." Ruby answered, sitting down on a couch before a cup of tea appeared in her hands. "Oh? Well you seemed to have made it home safely. Did you get sick?"_

_The man sat down in a chair across from her, a cup of tea appearing in his hands as well. Ruby laughed, shaking her head before drinking the tea in her cup. "No no… but I did meet some people today. If you count a dinosaur to be a person," she said, giggling a bit._

_The man raised an eyebrow, setting his cup aside and folding his hands together, "Is that so? Well then, that sounds like you had a strange time." Ruby nodded, finishing her tea and setting the cup aside as well. "Yea... the dinosaur was a part of a group of three. Rythian, Zoey, and Teep. Teep being the dinosaur." _

_The man's eyes widen a bit, recognizing the names. "Is that so..? Could you tell me where they are now?" Ruby shook her head. "Why not?" Ruby shrugged, "Why do you need to know..?" The man grinned, almost as if he expected her to ask that. "How about…" he started, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket along with a pen, "you take you and your friends to this location…and we can talk about this face to face."_

_After scribbling something on the piece of paper, he handed it to Ruby. Ruby hesitated, but grabbed the paper nonetheless. Looking at the paper, there were no coordinates on it or anything. Just two words: Duncan's Castle._

Someone was shaking Ruby, trying to wake her up. "Whaaatt…?" She groaned, waving a hand in the air. Someone shook her again, making her groan louder and sit up. "I'm up I'm up… What is iiittt?" she groaned again, stretching out her arms.

"We're heading over to Duncan's Castle ^^!" Jarl exclaimed, almost as excited as a kid on their birthday. Ruby blinked, looking at Jarl. "W-what?!" Jarl nodded, running towards her open bedroom door. "Rythian and Zoey want to see if Duncan was the one who started this mess and if there is a way to end it!"

Jarl ran out the door before Ruby could yell at him at how crazy the idea was. Then she remembered the man wanting her and her friends to go to Duncan's Castle. "Oh no…" she whispered, getting out of bed and quickly changing her clothes.

This is a bad idea…bad idea…HE WANTS us to go there…. We are dooooommmeedd…..

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**Yea yea yea I know I know, what do I have in store? Weellll~ I cant tell you :3 Mwahha**

**Enjoy! ~Lack**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven**_

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**10:00 AM**

The fresh grass crunched beneath their feet as the group continued to walk, Jarl staying close to the back while Rythian and Zoey stayed up front – Ruby and Teep in the middle. Rythian was quiet, while Zoey just messed with her robot arm – uncomfortable with the silence. "So…what's the plan?" Jarl asked, breaking the silence as they continued to walk – the trees shading them from the sun.

Rythian didn't answer, making the group go silent once more. Zoey sighed, unable to bear the silence any longer, "We are close to his castle now, let's see what he has to say." Jarl smiled and Teep roared quietly. But Ruby and Rythian were quiet, Rythian focusing on the task at hand – while Ruby was being quiet for her own reasons.

The ground started to shake, an explosion not far from where they were. Everyone stood still, crouching almost instantaneously. Someone shouted, words unable to be identified by how distant the voice was. "That's him…." Rythian growled… crawling along the floor.

Zoey crawled beside him, Jarl and Teep behind them. Ruby stayed back, sort of hesitant about what lies ahead. He wants us to go there, she thought. But because of her hesitation, someone crept up on her and quickly cupped a hand over her mouth. And as she was going to react, a hole appeared below her and she fell through – landing on cold iron flooring.

She groaned, slowly getting onto her knees. "Welcome back, Ruby," a voice in front of her spoke before she even rose her head. Ruby froze, not wanting to see the owner of that voice. The voice chuckled, a hand gently caressing the bottom of her chin before moving it upwards to see him. "Missed me?" The man looked at her with a smile, his short blonde hair looking un-kept compared to the white, clean lab-coat he had buttoned over the rest of his clothing.

Ruby just stared, keeping her mouth shut as she looked deep into those blue eyes of his. "Well? Nothing? Ah wait…yes now I remember. 'Silence is always the best option in any situation.'" Ruby's eyes widened, backing away from the man quickly. Only her father would say that to her whenever she was talking about an argument she had, Ruby thought, but then again, that was all she remembered of her father. Just that sentence… and the man in front of her said it exactly the same way…

The man, no… Duncan, grinned at her reaction before taking her hand and helping her to her feet. "I must thank you for bringing your friends here… though the one with black hair I don't know," he said with such a gently tone it sent shivers down the back of Ruby's spine. She looked away from him and whispered something that he couldn't hear.

"Hm? Pardon?" the scientist questioned, leaning closer to hear her. "Their….idea…by…themselves.." Ruby whispered again, some of the words still inaudible. But Duncan had enough clues to theorize what she meant. "So they decided to come here…" Ruby looked back at him, scared of what he has planned. He muttered to himself and let go of Ruby's hand, turning around and walking off – beckoning Ruby to follow.

Even though it was probably the wrong thing to do, Ruby really had nothing to do but follow him. Duncan stretched, revealing his own robotic arm. "Ah I can't wait for them to reach the gate!" he exclaimed when all of a sudden you could hear Rythian shouting from somewhere.

The man grinned, grabbing Ruby by the wrist tightly – making her wince as he dragged her along. "Let the show begin…" he whispered, locking two iron bands onto her wrists before chaining them to a wall – right beside a throne of sorts.

He snapped his fingers and sat on his throne, a smirk on his face as the front door to his castle opened and in came Rythian, Zoey, Teep, and Jarl. He laughed as they ran inside, skidding to a stop when they saw Ruby chained up next to him. "Wasn't expecting that, now were you Rythian?!" The scientist exclaimed, standing from his throne. Jarl's eyes were wide with shock, same with Zoey. But Teep just held a grim face, his bow drawn. Rythian growled as his eyes tinted with purple, "You…"

"What?" Duncan asked teasingly with a smile, "Did I do something wrong?"

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**Did I? Really? *grin***

**Sorry to leave you guys on a cliff hanger but hey, that's what we do best right?**

**~Lack**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Eight**_

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Rythian was silent, only staring at his foe with rage and anger. "Hmmmm? Weeelllll?" Duncan looked at the endermage, taking a step forward. A ball of fire started to form in Rythian's hand, growing slowly as if to scare the scientist. Duncan rolled his eyes, moving his black goggles over his eyes – adjusting them slightly so they were comfortable.

He looked over at his robotic arm and grinned, aiming the palm of his mechanical hand at Rythian – while some sort of energy was charging inside. The scientist laughed, almost maniacal, as the energy inside his palm formed a giant ball.

And while he kept it aimed at Rythian, Duncan quickly glanced over at Zoey and shot at her instead of the endermage. As anticipated, the endermage quickly moved in front of Zoey as protetction – his Katar (A Red-Matter sword with a black hilt and a red blade with a yellow at the edge) blocking the scientist's attack.

The sound of something unlatching echoed from above, a cage trapping both Rythian and Zoey inside – another cage about to unlatch above Teep and Jarl. Teep, his senses coming to an advantage of a trap, quickly shoved Jarl back as another cage unlatched above them – Jarl tumbling back and falling on his bum with Teep's bow and an arrow.

The scientist laughed in delight as he heard the metal cage make contact with the floor – not noticing that he missed one from the group. "Have you not yet seen it, Rythian? It was _ALL _a trap! The snow falling like it was real – who would have thought it was so easy to manipulate weather?" The endermage growled loudly, trying everything to get out of this cage before speaking, "What about the tree.."

"You actually bought that?!" Duncan basically fell onto the floor in mass hysteria, standing back up to redeem himself. "YOU of all people, bought that little story?! Come ooonnnn! You must have had some little theory that something wasn't right about all of this, hm?" Rythian looked at Duncan, a glare that just screamed _I Will Kill You_.

"Or did my little trick throw you off? Making it look like you and Ruby had the same magic. Hah! She doesn't have one trace of magic in her, you know why?" He asked, walking up to the cage with an insane grin on his face. "Do you?"

Just as the mad scientist revealed a bottle of water from in his coat, an arrow flew right in-between the bars of the cage Rythian and Zoey were in, penetrating through Duncan's lab coat and into his skin. Duncan screamed in pain, stepping back a bit while his mechanical arm tried to pull the arrow out.

Zoey turned around, watching Jarl fist pump the air in victory before gladly taking another arrow that Teep handed him through the bars – but Rythian was focused on the broken water bottle, shattered glass on the floor with water flowing his direction.

"What was that Duncan? I couldn't understand what you were saying over your screaming!" Jarl exclaimed, walking closer to Duncan – bow drawn back with an arrow, ready to be fired. The scientist growled, cursing quietly as he finally pulls the arrow out of his arm completely.

"As I was saying," he started – completely ignoring Jarl, "My dearest Ruby is so different from you all… yet you never noticed until now. Because you see… .HER!" With that, he laughed maniacally, throwing his hands in the air as if he won already.

Everyone's eyes went wide in shock, but no one could feel the emotions Ruby was feeling as soon as he said that. A mixture of shock, fear, anger, guilt…just tons and tons of emotions going through her at once as her eyes started to well up in tears.

"T-That's not true! It can't be true!" Ruby screamed over her sobs, not wanting to believe what this mad man in front of her is saying. Duncan turned around and looked at Ruby defiantly, just enjoying everyone's reaction. "Is that so? What if I said…'Shoot Rythian'."

Suddenly, Ruby's mind went blank – everything in her vision turning some sort of shade of green. She stopped crying and stared with a blank face before pulling on the chains with such force that they basically snapped off the wall.

Zoey gasped, backing up until she reached the back bars of the cage – Jarl backing up a bit aswell. Rythian and Teep stood their ground, hiding their emotion about what is going on. Ruby walked over to Duncan's side, who took the iron bands off her wrists with delight. Instantly, Ruby looked straight at Rythian – her vision showing a red outline around him as the target.

She extended her arm in Rythian's direction, her hand balled into a fist. "Target sighted." Her hand turned a full 360, disappearing inside her arm. Seconds later a ball of purple energy shot out of her arm, flying straight for Rythian with incredible speed.

Rythian didn't have enough time to react, the ball of energy hitting him head on. The force of the ball alone knocked Rythian into the back bars, putting him into a daze as he could feel all the energy going through him – causing crazy amounts of pain to course through his body.

A grin widened on Duncan's face as he looked over at his creation, glad that commands are working properly. Ruby looked back to her master, her hand screwing itself back onto her arm. "Awaiting Orders."

The mad scientist opened his mouth to say something, but another voice interrupted his command. "Stand down," an American voice spoke behind Duncan, making him jump and turn around. Duncan's eyes went wide as he lifted his goggles to see the man.

It was the Administrator, Man of the Skies….Ridgedog – floating just inches above the ground as he faced Duncan with an everlasting smile. His black cloak wrapped around him snug, while the golden edges shined dimly.

The scientist was shaking, trembling with fear as he stared into the cold eyes of Ridge – scared for his life. "R-Ridge… w-what are you doing here….?" Duncan stuttered, backing up to hide his creation. "We had a deal, Duncan." The man said, going straight to the point. He looked over at the cadged people and waved a hand, the cages lifting into the air and flying into the wall – disappearing out of sight.

"Y-yea..I remember it! I didn't break the deal!" Duncan exclaimed, scratching the back of his head while the others tended to Rythian. Ridge rolled his eyes, having none of it as he shoved the scientist to the side and grabbed Ruby by the wrist tightly – knowing she will not feel anything.

"Then what is this?" The Man of the Skies hissed. "J-just uh…." Duncan couldn't find the words, so he just looked to the floor in defeat. You can't hide anything from Ridge.. It was just impossible. "That's what I thought…" the man whispered coldly before snapping his fingers – both Duncan and Ruby disappearing from his sight in a gold mist.

Ridge muttered something under his breath and turned towards the group. "You saw none of this…completely forget this entire thing happened," he hissed in anger of Duncan's deceivery. Jarl was the one to rebel against that idea, "How am I supposed to forget about my roommate!?" "It was never your roommate to begin with, just a toy used to trap you all." In saying this, those words went straight to Jarl's heart, hurting him emotionally.

Jarl was going to protest more, but Rythian just placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around – guiding him out with the rest of them. "Just forget it Jarl… when the Man of the Skies gets involved you just need to do what he says," the endermage whispered into Jarl's ear – who nodded slowly.

_Whenever the Man of the Skies gets involved in anything, just back down or face his consequences._

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_**THE END**_

**Hope you all enjoyed, yea made it a bit anti-climatic huh? Well atleast I think its like that. OH WHALE.**

**Time for my next story *grin* This will be fun**

**~Lack**


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